Inspiration Series | Yinka Shonibare

13 May 2019

Yinka Shonibare CBE -  2004 Turner prize nominee - was born 1962 in London and moved to Lagos, Nigeria. Later he returned to London to study Fine Art, first at Byam School of Art (now Central Saint Martins College) before receiving his MFA from Goldsmiths College, London, (1991).

His interdisciplinary practice cites Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities, particularly within the context of globalization.

In 2002, he was commissioned for Documenta XI to create Gallantry and Criminal Conversation. He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2004, and in 2008, his survey exhibition opened at MCA Sydney and toured to the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. His public art commission Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle was displayed on the Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, London (2010) and now on permanent display at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

His work is included in notable museum collections including Tate, London; the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; Moderna Museet, Stockholm and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago among others.

We had the privilege of having Yinka talk at Sarabande -  an in-depth conversation of his work and practise with the art critic from Art Review Magazine, Mark Rappolt ensued.